Countdown
by Kirlial
Summary: Kirito was just an eager Beta tester. He was one of five hundred. However it wasn't just a game or a glitch. Anyone who dies will remain dead and there's ten gruelling floors to defeat. Aincrad Arc, somewhat AU.
1. Prologue

**Hey there, I probably shouldn't be writing this but I wanted to write a new story. If you're wondering about one of my other stories, well I'm not very inspired for them just now.**

 **Anyway this is an AU, my plan to write a better paced and more concise Aincrad arc. Rather than 10,000 players I wanted there to be just 500 but it will still inexplicably contain all the canon characters because I don't have much interest in a cast of OCs of which there might still be a few. And, it's in an Aincrad where it's potentially feasible for 500 players to beat the game rather than the canon one which is feasible for 10,000. I always thought those fics with like a million players were a little crazy. 500 is a far nicer number.**

* * *

Kazuto brushed his fingers over the shiny helmet speculatively, honestly a little nervous. A thrill of fear ran through him as he considered the idea of entering a virtual reality. Technically he'd tried out the briefest demo of some of the software for two minutes but this was different. He'd be entering a world created by a computer yet experience it with all his senses, in short he'd be completely immersed. He would be but one of five hundred lucky beta testers to try out the long anticipated Sword Art Online. Would it hurt? Would he love a virtual world?

This game was expected to brilliant. He'd followed the blog of one Alpha player who'd discussed the immersion of a virtual reality, and he'd been most complimentary about the amount of detail packed into the game, suggesting that it was the optimum of graphics.

Kazuto's dark eyes noted the time on his computer. 10.03am. The server had been officially active for three minutes now and yet here he was, just staring at an empty helmet. Truly though, there was no time to waste, the beta wouldn't last forever and really he should be honoured for such an opportunity. Yet entering a virtual reality was undeniably a little scary too.

He braced himself, delicately putting on the large and heavy helmet. Setting it up had required fiddling with a plethora of bright coloured wires and buttons but that was all done now. All there was to do was lie down awkwardly on the bed - sleeping with the helmet on was certainly going to strain his neck - and press the power button. The helmet fit well. He tried to relax as colours began to fill his vision, feeling a curious heat penetrating his skull (that was expected apparently). The system was activating.

"Link Start." Soon his lips grew too heavy to move and all sensations seemed to stop.

* * *

'What is your name?'

Kirito opened his eyes, looking around. It was an empty white space with a thin blue box floating in front of him, demanding his attention.

He twitched his fingers nervously; it was disorientating to find himself suddenly standing up and he took care not to just stumble and fall over. Ignoring the box for the moment, he looked down at himself; he was somehow wearing an unassuming grey garb. As he grasped his hands together, he realised they felt eerily different. He examined his hands carefully, noting that jagged uneven nails had gone, replaced with short uniform ones. There was also no hair on the back of his hands, not that there'd been much before, and they just generally felt less textured. It was a glaring, or perhaps subtle, difference that made it clear he was now in a virtual reality.

He wasn't in his own body then. This was what the computer had created for him, though it appeared he could still move and control it just as finely as his own. He absentmindedly noted that he was breathing evenly too, and it felt very close to natural, if still a trace imperfect; it was very advanced software after all.

Dismissing his new body for the moment, he focused on the blue screen in front of him and lifted a finger towards the glowing letters. It was a simple endeavour to type out his chosen name - Kirito. A name he regularly used in games, being a portmanteau of his family name and his given name, as was a common enough trend. Finally he lightly touched the enter button and the screen disappeared before another rapidly replaced it.

'Your name is Kirito?' It said, with a 'Yes' and a 'No' button beneath it.

He quickly confirmed his name and watched yet another box appear, fortunately this one was more relevant to the game. The box asked what sort of character he'd like to play with descriptions beneath large image of each class.

He frowned for a moment for he'd heard there were no classes in Sword Art Online, but a quick analysis showed that each one merely selected three starting abilities that particularly suited each class, and altered the starting gear ever so slightly. Basically it was simply the game giving you a little guidance. Looking at each of them, it seemed that he'd also been correct in hearing that there was no magic in this game, despite it apparently having a medieval fantasy setting.

Kirito read each description briefly. Light Swordsman, Heavy Swordsman, Archer, Beast Tamer, Merchant, Support, Rogue, Blunt Weapons and Other. (Other appeared to simply be choosing your own basic skill set). The choice wasn't too hard for him though and he selected the light swordsman. He'd always favoured speedy characters though found rogues to lack solid power.

Once he'd confirmed his character, the world disappeared again and found himself entering the main server.

* * *

He was standing in a marketplace and with a start he realised that there were other players milling around. Seeing people just wandering around reminded him disconcertingly of reality - where other people seemed just as real as you did. As he tried to relax after such an abrupt teleportation another box decided to welcome him to this new plane.

'Welcome to Sword Art Online Beta Version 1.34. Here in Aincrad you can battle monsters with your friends to gain experience until you become strong enough to defeat floor Bosses which guard the way to the next floor. Currently there are ten floors in total and the game will be cleared once the final boss has been defeated. In the official version there will be far more floors but defeating them will still be a challenge. This game also features a mostly player-run economy so shop around with the in-game currency, Col, in order to get the best gear. Explore the world to experience the best this game has to offer! Good luck, player, and I hope you enjoy my game. Kayaba Akihiko, Creator of Sword Art Online.'

Kirito smiled, suddenly excited to try out the game, though he felt a hint of anxiety at the idea of all the social aspects. He dismissed his welcome message and glanced around at others around him, none of whom seemed to be paying much attention to him. He didn't see any monsters but he supposed that they were somewhere in some sewers or a castle or outside the town.

Just then a final blue box decided to announce in front of him, he decided that the delay was probably just there to annoy him, because the engine was really slick. Tempting though it was to just dismiss it without bothering to look at it, he quickly skimmed it and it turned out to be some basic controls - how to open the menu, view skills, report any bugs, send messages to other players, activate more technical skills and what sword skills were. Apparently if he swung his sword in a particular way then he could activate some sort of automated combat combo to make fighting more accessible.

He dismissed that box too and then quickly rushed off to the nearest town exit. Around the starting town, there appeared to be vast grassy fields with winding paths in all directions, the air itself had a slightly earthy smell to it, which was really cool. In the distance he saw a trio taking on some sort of wild animal in a fight. he watched one of them aim an arrow at it while another blocked it's attack with their shield. It looked frightfully realistic yet Kirito was eager to join in anyway.

Getting his sword out of his inventory, he ran towards them. Just then though, a blue light enveloped his character. What was happening now? Once again he found his vision fading to white before abruptly appearing in a new location - back in the town. Why would the game decide to do that just as he was about to start a fight? He didn't feel any happier when seemingly every other player on the server also teleported around him.

He found himself facing a large stage where some sort of shadowy golem thing, triple the size of any player stood waiting. He supposed it was another welcome but he was more interested in getting started with the game. Still, it was only the first hour of the game and the game did look rather good.

The huge shadow golem with red eyes was a bit dramatic though, far from what he'd expected from a serious game designer like Akihiko. As the blue light from all the teleportations faded now that everyone had arrived, the golem seemed to stand a little taller ad it seemed ready to begin it's announcement. Despite still being slightly irritated, Kirito was interested in what was going to be said.

"Welcome players, to my world." It had a deep voice that seemed to carry all the way to the end of the crowd.

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. You may think you are just playing a game of my own creation, however Aincrad is so much more than that. You see, in this game if you die the you die in reality. Microwaves inside the helmets that you all wear can transmit a deadly signal which will be fatal should your avatar perish. Furthermore if you look in your menu then you will find no log out button. This is not a glitch. You cannot exit this game until you defeat the game, all ten floors."

Kirito didn't move, didn't outwardly react at all. His first thought was to disbelieve it, but a traitorous voice within informed him that, yes, it was possible. The helmets worked by microwaves and his head was encased inside one right at this very moment. He hoped it was a joke, a really bad one, yet the golem talked so seriously. He hadn't noticed that the log out button was missing but he did know that it was the only way out of the game save from manually removing the helmets.

"And if someone tries to manually remove the helmets, then you will die as the microwaves will automatically fry your brain. in fact, nine people have already died," the Golem helpfully clarified as if in answer to his thoughts.

Nine dead. What if his sister came into his room and tried to remove his helmet? Would he die, just like that? Was that what happened to the others? Why would anyone think up such a sadistic and cruel idea?

"You may be wondering why I, Kayaba AKihiko the extraordinary game developer would want to do such a such a thing. It's very simple, I want to create my own reality with its own stakes. This is my world, you see. Long has it been my dream to see it become reality and you are my citizens. I have even given you your own faces. Your tutorial is over now, welcome to the real game. Good luck."

The golem disappeared. Kirito glanced around at all the players around him, feeling rather like everyone around him was going to be dead in a few months. They were all arguing or crying or in denial or just standing around shocked. He couldn't deal with them, he didn't want to be around others now, he couldn't bear.

Kirito ran. He ran as fast as he could, feeling trapped in the square surrounded by so many others but eventually he found the exit. He didn't stop running, he needed to be far away from here. He would go out into the fields and get as strong as he could - it was the only way to survive.

"Hey mister!" A child's voice called out suddenly.

He stopped, turning to face a young girl who really shouldn't be in a death game. She had large eyes, hair done into two long pigtails and a hopeless expression on her face. He glanced behind him at the gates to the square. The girl must have run out like him, out of pure fear.

"Is it true? Are we in danger?" She asked him, gripping his hand in her own, clawing at it really.

He didn't know what to say. "We... might be," he answered softly.

How did such a young girl even obtain the Beta version of this game? Was she the only child or were the others in that crowd?

"But I don't know how to fight! What do I do? I-" she broke off, as a shiver wracked her body.

He really hoped he didn't regret this but he couldn't possibly leave her on her own when she was so young and looked so fragile. "Come with me and I'll make you strong," he offered, half-hoping she'd decline.

But she loosened her grip on his hands and looked slightly more hopeful. "Thank you, m-my name is Ke- Silica."

"Come on," he said quietly, pulling her towards a town exit.

* * *

 **This is just the prologue I guess. But as you can see, it's still in Beta so this will be all new to Kirito rather than him already being really skilled and accomplished. I also tried to give the game some moderate guidance and advice rather than just plopping Kirito on the map but it's not a huge thing.**

 **While Silica did appear at the end, it doesn't mean it's a Kirito/Silica ship, it's more that I'd prefer Kirito not to be travelling completely alone.**

 **The plan is that 1 chapter = 1 floor, not including this one and I won't skip any floors, it's why there's only 10.**

 **So uh... please review. What do you think of this idea? Feel free to share any comments or suggestions, though this was just a prologue of sorts.**


	2. Floor 1, part 1

**Hello! Here's the second chapter and there's still a lot of the first floor to cover, and some characters to introduce. Having more than two characters is generally a good thing after all.**

* * *

-In the starting Town

"Do you think that... was real?" A girl was talking to her brother.

His gaze seemed to be anywhere but on her. "I don't know, but what he was saying about the log out button was certainly the truth," he answered in a somewhat steady voice.

"Are we truly trapped then?" She asked, a slight quaver in her voice.

His dark eyes finally met hers. "What's he's doing is mad and illegal and the authorities will almost certainly discover this if they're not aware already. He'll be arrested and we'll be let out; that's what will happen," he stated, like it was a fact. He certainly wanted it to be true.

Next to them, a tall man let out a gleeful cackle. As they both turned to him quizzically he shared his thoughts. "If that's truly what you think boy, then you're deluded! They say the Kayaba was a genius - a mad genius, it seems. I'm sure he knew full well that this was illegal and took steps to avoid being caught."

Around them, the murmuring of the crowd seemed to grow louder and the boy was dismayed to hear some general agreement to the man's words. They didn't know what was going in the real world. He reached out and clutched his sister's hand, strangely virtual though it was, for some reassurance.

Could Kayaba have really managed to lure 500 people into a death trap? This seemed too elaborate, too cruel for a joke. If they was seriously taking the Kayaba's words for fact then what was he then supposed to do? Waiting here with all the despairing people in the hopes that the authorities would find them sounded unbearable but leaving meant putting himself, and Asuna, at risk.

"Kou- uh- Flavius?" Asuna struggled to remember to use his in-game name. "What do you know about this game?"

She was probably attempting to steer the conversation away from the real world, and into the immediate present. For the time being they were in the game so understanding it was probably important.

His family was heavily invested in virtual gear so he'd followed the creation of Sword Art Online more closely than most; Asuna hadn't been that interested it until being offered a Nerve gear of her own for the beta. However he'd been more interested in the idea of virtual realities in general rather than this game's specific gameplay. As such, he wasn't sure he could give her any useful information.

He shrugged, but searched his mind for useful info anyway. "It's a fairly standard RPG save for the level of technology form what I recall. Defeating monsters and completing quests gives you experience allowing your character to grow stronger and learn new skills so you can take on greater threats, however your actual skill and tactics matter too given that all combat will be completely real time.

She probably knew all that already, but she nodded anyway.

"It's also possible to sleep and feel hunger and almost any nerve or impulse can be simulated in a virtual reality," he added, deciding that it was relevant.

Asuna tilted her head to the side then, and gave his hand a tug. "I think some people are gathering by the stage," she said, apparently distracted.

Trying not to be too offended that she'd get distracted so easily, he glanced over too and allowed himself to be lead towards the raised stage. Around him, other people who had been absorbed in their own conversations also began heading in that general direction, no doubt having noticed the commotion. On the stage itself, where that ghastly creature had dissipated after delivering Kayaba's message, two young players were now standing, facing the crowd.

One, a young man with shoulder length blonde hair who looked surprisingly comfortable in his beginner armour, had a rather fixed smile as he looked intently at the gathered players. Flavius couldn't make out much of the other character for a hooded green cloak obscured all of their features. They were a rather brave pair though, if they truly meant to address everyone on Kayaba's stage. Flavius would've been willing to bet that no one would have gone near it for weeks.

"Greetings everyone!" The armoured man yelled, with feeling. He didn't seem very perturbed by his location. "My name is Diabel and this here is Argo. We've decided to beat the game!"

His declaration brought a hush to the crowd, a crowd consisting of the majority of the players by now. Flavius has suspected that someone would suggest something of that nature sooner or later and this was probably the best way to do it, loudly and directly. Inwardly though, he knew playing the game was what Kayaba wanted them to do so why should they play by his imposed rules, dance to his tune? He was a madman and they had no reason to trust him. Who knew for sure that beating the game would actually accomplish anything, assuming they could at all?

"I know what you're thinking - it's dangerous right? Well Argo here has been talking to a few of you and we've determined that killing the wild monsters is not too hard in a group," he continued. Argo gave the tiniest nod in agreement.

"Therefore, if we all march on the boss together then we'll be fine! All you have to do is join a party, which can be done by opening your menu. We'll get organised today and then tomorrow we can start our expedition and leave this accursed game," he said, usheathing his sword purely in order to finish with a flourish.

His short speech done, Diabel leapt down from the stage, and Argo swiftly followed. The murmurings of the crowd grew louder once again but he imagined that the speech had had an effect and they were actually discussing creating parties like Diabel had suggested.

Flavius glanced at his sister, but her expression was unreadable. He didn't want her to go into the field. It was primarily his fault that she was stuck in here and he couldn't allow her to get into danger. But if the rest of the players banded together and left the safe zone then he had an obligation to join them and he couldn't leave her on her own either.

Would it be better if they not join up at all? He couldn't imagine fighting to clear the game would really yield any results but he couldn't forget what that cackling man had thought about waiting to be rescued. Could he bear to just live in this town for who knew how long while others were dying for their cause? Asuna had always been rather principled and she'd be unhappy waiting too, he knew.

"You can be in my party, you know?" Flavius said softly to her.

Asuna turned to him, a hesitant smile on her lips. "You want to join them then?"

"I don't know, but being in the same party either way can't possibly be a bad thing. I think I'll think about it tonight though," he replied uncertainly.

Asuna's large eyes turned away from him again as she observed other groups talking and arguing with each other. He too, observed the others, wondering what they would do. If no one decided to follow Diabel then he feared that they would never get organised and though he didn't think they'd wait forever in this virtual town, he knew he feared it. If the majority listened though, would it be wrong if he didn't?

"Hey, how do you open the menu?" Asuna asked, a trace embarrassed.

He grinned and showed her the motion, then watched her attempt to duplicate it.

She'd soon succeeded and a moment later he received a party request, to which he immediately accepted.

"Now we're in the same party and we can see each other's health, if that drops to zero then we're dead," Flavius pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "I know that much, it's not hard to work out."

Secretly though, she shot him a grateful look and to show her appreciation.

"If we're going to defeat this game then we need discipline!" A new voice suddenly roared. Flavius turned back towards the stage, noting a new person standing there. He had rather distinctive spiky hair but he was unfamiliar to him.

It seemed someone else had decided to imitate Argo and Diabel and commandeer the stage. "This won't some grand quest where we can win by just banding together. It's true that you gain XP by killing monsters and that means grinding! If you fall behind then you're dead. We're not gonna spend tomorrow marching on the boss - we'll spend it training until we're strong," he explained.

"We'll also all be searching for better gear because right now our weapons are going to do next to nothing against the boss. If we're doing this then we're doing it right!"

The guy had addressed a valid point but Diabel could've said it better than him. Asuna muttered something under her breath, frowning slightly. She was probably thinking the same as him, though her face remained hard to decipher.

"Today we rest but tomorrow we march," the spiky-haired guy finished, a bitter smile on his face.

* * *

Kirito readied himself for his first kill, conscious of the girl next to him.

"That wolf will be our target," he told her, softly.

"It's an evil monster, isn't it?" Silica replied, sounding pleased about her deduction as she watched it pace around.

Kirito resisted the urge to sigh loudly. He'd been explaining how the game was populated with monsters and she'd seemed very against killing them until he'd elaborated for far too long on how they were just computer generated and how they were evil.

Once they had gotten relatively far from the town, her attitude seemed to morph, and she'd started chattering incessantly. She'd talked about her family, and her friends, and seemingly all her possessions before concluding that she might never see them again. Then she'd appeared to focus on something less grim and babbled about graphics and how cool all the creatures were, neglecting to mention that they were out to kill her.

"Yes, it's an evil monster. Now get out your weapon so we can fight this thing," he replied. He summoned up his straight short sword, hoping fighting would be fairly straightforward.

Silica tested his patience by taking out a wooden stick. "I'm ready!" She exclaimed.

"Please tell me you have an actual weapon," he said, gritting his teeth. He was uncertain if her cheerful demeanour was some sort of act, for she seemed utterly daft.

"Nope! See, I don't really like swords so I threw mine away," Silica replied, now grinning broadly.

Threw her sword away? Kirito clenched and unclenched his fingers. Repeatedly. "You- You..." he tried to speak, but failed. This was life or death!

Meanwhile Silica was giggling innocently, her face slightly flushed. How could she be so stupid? Did she not regret it even a little? Maybe she'd actually somehow forgotten that they were in a death game.

"Just kidding! Actually I chose to be a beast tamer and this is my starting gear," she amended brightly, before bursting into more giggles.

Kirito closed his eyes, breathing in slowly. He'd just been fooled by a little girl and she was laughing at him. How did she even do that? He was actually starting to miss the scared and shy state he'd found her in. If he'd found her smiling like this then he'd never have invited her along.

Okay, he'd just pretend that hadn't happened and he would ignore her giggling. "Right, let's just kill this wolf then."

Silica nodded, calming down slightly, trying a few experimental swings with her stick. "I'm going to destroy you, evil monster!" She taunted the wolf.

Incredibly that caught it's attention and now they had a wolf charging towards them. Great. It probably wasn't the most fearsome beast, with it's ragged grey fur and the fact the it was half his size but it's red eyes looked rather malevolent anyway.

Silica seemed to become more sombre, holding her stick in front of her awkwardly. Kirito readied his own blade, thinking back to his kendo training from years ago. Somehow he found himself relaxing into the strangely familiar form. He could do this.

The wolf targeted Silica (it seemed to have taken her comment personally) and as it bounded towards her she was indecisively putting her blade into something that might have been considered a block. As it jumped, to pounce on her, Kirito quickly intercepted with a swift blow to it's head. His strike connected with a satisfying clunk and the wolf was pushed to the ground, momentarily disoriented but far from defeated.

Silica gasped at the sight of the monster mere inches from her but managed to swing her stick down as it snarled at her. Her blow couldn't have done much damage but it gave him the opportunity to try and figure out a sword skill - what was the right start?

-Horizontal-

Kirito felt his body moving of it's own accord as his sword swung in a perfect horizontal arc until it struck the wolf. The sword seemed to have provided some extra power as the wolf collapsed, presumably dead from his fierce blow.

Just as suddenly as he'd lost control, his body was under his control again. He breathed in deeply, Silica looked a little dazed herself. he had defeated his first enemy and it hadn't been too bad.

A blue box appeared, informing him he'd received a wolf fang and he supposed it would become useful at some point but dismissed the message for now. That was... rather realistic.

"So..." Kirito broke the silence, noting that Silica was frowning rather deeply. "You chose the Beast tamer class?" He said uncertainly.

"Yes, it allows me to make friends with animals so that they'll help in battle, all I have to do is feed one it's favourite food," Silica replied, her voice surprisingly even, though she was looking down at the wolf corpse with a horrified expression.

"Maybe you could tame one of those boars over there or something," Kirito muttered, glancing towards the other side of the valley where some boars were indeed grazing. In truth, beast taming sounded pretty stupid to him, and potentially effective but only if you had a good animal. A swordfighter was way more straightforward. Of course she probably hadn't realised it would out to be so critical.

Silica took her eyes off the dead wolf fortunately and glanced over at the boars too. "But I don't know what their favourite food is," she replied earnestly. Strange, how her attention could so easily be diverted from what was right in front of her.

"Grass, obviously. It's all they eat."

* * *

Argo observed her inn room sceptically. Several hours had passed since they'd entered Aincrad and everyone she'd spoken too had been unnerved at the very least. Many of the players were downright hysterical. SOme players had ran off into the wilderness and it was likely that they were dead; perhaps that had been the intention.

She glanced towards her new partner, already collapsing into the bed, who had offered to pay half the bill for half the room. He had certainly been a good find and she thought they'd be a pretty good team; he was what everybody needed right now.

Diabel spoke in such a genuinely determined way that others would listen to him. He just oozed natural charisma On his own he could have easily lead a group of his friends through the game but with her help, she'd make sure that they mobilised all the players.

Argo couldn't have delivered speeches herself, she knew. People didn't often trust her right away and she preferred to hide beneath her cloak rather boldly introduce herself and declare her intentions. Diabel wasn't the type to draw people's attention by climbing on stages or gather information of his own initiative. However Argo could make a few suggestions and Diabel could cut through all her too tricksy thoughts to deliver a clear messages to all the other players.

Tomorrow they would begin their campaign and certainly some of the players would attracted. However it would be harder to get them to stay through to the bitter end. That spiky-haired punk Kibaou had made some irritating observations about the nature of their campaign. Truthfully there would have to be a great deal of grinding and some people would hate it and leave. Others might choose to leave only if someone died, but Argo wasn't optimistic about them preventing any deaths.

Argo could only hope that Diabel was convincing enough to make enough people stay with them. If they became fragmented then things would likely only get worse. Until then she'd make plans and gather more information. At present they knew very little about the game. Finding out that you earned XP for killing monsters was rather abysmal information gathering and Argo was just happy Diabel had been able to spin it into something moderately encouraging.

"Maybe when I wake up this will have all been a nightmare," Diabel murmured quietly, as he relaxed on his bed.

Argo smiled grimly. Would that this was all a dream. Perhaps making a giant party was not he best thing to do in this situation but they had to do something. As long as they were in danger, they would fight - if only for their own survival.

* * *

 **Hey there, what did you think?**

 **Yeah I added in Asuna's brother who I don't believe ever appeared in canon and I thought he'd be an interesting addition. I'm not sure I made the characters scared enough but I did want to go beyond them just being disbelieving and horrified for an entire chapter.**

 **I was a bit reluctant to have multiple viewpoints but I think it works like this. And yeah, Kirito's pretty disconnected with the rest of the game - that's what happens when you run off.**


End file.
